


Professional Misstep

by venefica_aura (crankyoldman)



Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-28
Updated: 2009-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-03 21:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crankyoldman/pseuds/venefica_aura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People sometimes make bad decisions. What's worst is the start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Professional Misstep

Screwing the boss was some kind of tired cliche. But screwing the backer had to be something new.

Rufus Shinra was contrary to everything that Elfe stood for. Not only that, he was a smug jerk. She'd grown up with straightforward and honest people; he was a liar and dodgy about everything. She'd been in a foul mood since he'd pushed his way into an "inspection" of their organization.

So how in the hell did she wake up naked next to him? Oh right, the sake.

\---

It had started innocently enough.

"I can't get this in Midgar."

He was acting like it was some kind of vacation, and it probably was for him. If she cared to look the similarity between them was they were probably a couple of the oldest young people on the Planet. People their age were partying or going to school and finding dramas in the ridiculous. Instead they were starting revolutions.

Well, she was starting it, he was throwing gil at it.

"It's just alcohol, like any other alcohol."

He was a very good actor and liar, she had to give him that. Elfe was going to punch Fuhito for the suggestion of the cover--boyfriend and girlfrind on vacation. They'd almost put her in a dress, too, but she'd twisted Sears arm until he found her a good pair of shorts. She needed to be able to move, and didn't like the idea of her underwear on display if trouble happened.

Rufus still looked like a dandy. Though thankfully trading a white suit for a more relaxed khaki linen one. He'd carried a camera like a tourist the whole day, and she could have sworn he almost enjoyed the little charade.

"I've found your organization to be progressing wonderfully, now have a drink of some of the finest liquor around."

She always made it a point not to jump at his orders. He didn't _own_ her. She crossed her arms and looked out the window of the bar.

He leaned forward over the table. "People are going to think we're fighting, dear. Don't want to draw attention."

The feeling of somewhat loathing was mutual. She was dirty and hands-on and he was stand offish and clean to the point of psychosis. It was like looking at the physical embodiment of their dislikes and having to work with it. But she was honest, and he tried to play it off like some kind of game.

She downed the shot quickly. Rufus was right, it was quite good. He rewarded that with a teasing smirk. So she poured the next two. Elfe wasn't a drinker per se, but she could hold it. People in Cosmo did harder stuff than that.

First there was small talk. Alcohol could fuzzy up the dislike and she could pretend she was talking to someone like Sears. Now that was a nice man, a dependable brother sort.

"So do you hate being a woman or do you think you're a man?"

Of course, Sears would never say something like that.

"Excuse me?"

They were both a little buzzed at that point. He'd asked the waiter for a bottle they could take back to the inn, so they could finish up there and not get lost in a gutter or something. It was strangely practical, but then Rufus Shinra probably knew how to avoid bad press by being discreet.

"The hair, the way you walk and dress, it suggests you and femininity are not friends."

She wouldn't--couldn't--dignify that with a verbal response. So she tripped him on the way out the door of the bar. The grass stain on his pants made her grin.

"Touche."

\---

She didn't know when or how to move. He'd rolled over and pressed himself against her back, muttering something unintelligible. There had been hope that somehow she'd just hopped into bed naked for some reason, but the unmistakeable feeling of skin and... against her removed that possibility.

"Mmm, you're soft and warm."

The fight or flight mechanism had always been strong with her, tending towards fight. At that moment, though, she had to flee. Had she been drugged? How could she in her right mind have thought that sleeping with Rufus Shinra was anything but a bad idea?

Gods, her clothes were EVERYWHERE, too.

\---

"I bet you wouldn't last five minutes outdoors without a phone."

"Not everyone has to be a wilderness scout."

With the sake, they were almost talking like friends. She was a bit... giggly at this point, but Rufus could be kind of funny when he wanted to be.

"I bet you would have a hissy if I messed up your hair."

"I bet you're a lesbian, with a haircut like that." A challenge?

She wasn't sure if she did it, or he did, but they were liplocked and his hand was on her ass and she thought for a moment to stop him. But then, she didn't. She pulled off a couple buttons on his shirt instead. Then she bit him and he purred.

Elfe liked the way that Rufus Shinra responded to an assault.

She took every action he did as a counter move in a fight. In some ways it was; she didn't like him any better than she had since she'd met him. The fact that pure animal magnetism had them naked and groping had nothing to do with ideals or disagreements or temperments. It was just a fact that Rufus was rather attractive. And maybe with enough booze she was too.

She couldn't fault nature, but it sure made humanity really messed up.

\---

His talking had proven to be mostly asleep talking, so she'd snaked her way out of the bed and tiptoed around to gather her clothes. The last thing she wanted was for Fuhito to knock on the door and for any semblance of dignity to go flying out the window. Elfe was suddenly glad that Cosmo encouraged the use of substances in order to better understand the will of the Planet; it certainly made mornings after heavy drinking a lot easier to handle.

There. She was decent. Another reason not to be terribly girly about things, much quicker getaways.

Her hand was on the window latch--no way she was going to leave through the door--when he finally woke up.

"Did we..."

"I'm pretty sure."

"Great. You're not going to develop some attachment to me now, are you?"

The fact he was smirking almost made her decide to say the hell with money and kill the Shinra heir right then and there. She never liked politics of that kind anyway. Why was she playing to this anyway? Why had she let Fuhito talk her into--

Rufus Shinra was saved by a knock at the door. She was out the window before he even had a chance to say 'who is it'.

\---

When this was all over, Elfe was sure she was going to get all the restitutions Shinra owed her.


End file.
